The canal du Midi by bike from Carcassonne to Le Somail

Passing at the foot of the magnificent medieval fortified city of Carcassonne, this section of the Canal du Midi à Vélo then takes you along a route dotted with remarkable canal constructions to admire, especially when watching boats using them. A splendid additional route leads along the Canal de la Robine to the former Roman capital of Narbonne. This route ends with a surprising way through big coastal lakes to Port-la-Nouvelle, where it reaches the Mediterranean.

The 5 stages of the section « The canal du Midi by bike from Carcassonne to Le Somail »

Not one, but two bridge-aqueducts were needed to cross the Fresquel and Orbiel Rivers to reach Trèbes, with its lively port, its canal-side cafés-restaurants and its church of St-Etienne, in the heart of the historic village. The Minervois area and its reputed vineyards lie just a short cycle ride away from the Canal du Midi here.

This stage is dotted with admirable technical feats, in particular the astonishing hydraulic overflow facility designed for the Canal du Midi at La Redorte by the great 17th-century engineer Vauban. Homps, an historic wine-exporting port, is very lively, with many shops, and a bit of a shock after the sleepy atmosphere along much of the canal. Here you find yourself in the heart of the Minervois area. Close to Homps, Jouarres Lake offers you the possibility of going bathing.

A string of wine-making villages, Argens-Minervois, Roubia, Paraza and Ventenac-en-Minervois, congregate here beside the Canal du Midi, calling for your attention! Le Somail’s port was where the canal’s designer, Pierre-Paul Riquet, calculated that the post barge should stop for the couchée, or sunset, on the third day of its trip from Toulouse. Now, Le Somail is one of the canal’s most attractive stops, a picture-postcard village with its port, chapel, canal-side accommodation and amazing antiquarian bookshop.

This is a major additional stage that comes highly recommended. It leads you towards the city of Narbonne via a short stretch alongside a linking canal up to Sallèles-d’Aude. Then, given the lack of other options to cross the river, you need to continue via Cuxac-d’Aude along a road shared with motorized traffic to reach the Canal de la Robine at Raonel Lock. From there, a lovely, well-laid-out, signposted greenway leads to Narbonne itself. .

This very Mediterranean, very nature-based stage takes you through typical coastal Languedoc landscapes. You follow an extraordinary band of land shared with a railway line that passes between two huge coastal lakes. After passing by the Sainte-Lucie Reserve, you reach Port-la Nouvelle, both a working port and a resort, with a great long beach that cyclists can relax on after their ‘crossing of the desert’!